The Figs: American Pharoah's Triple Crown

A by-the-numbers look at American Pharoah  's Triple Crown run.

1st

Current ranking of American Pharoah on the 2015 leaderboard of horses by U.S. purse earnings and the current ranking of his owner Zayat Stables on the 2015 leaderboard of owners by purse earnings (Bob Baffert ranks second on the trainer list and Victor Espinoza is third on the jockey list)

1

Triple Crown winner who did not previously race at Belmont Park before the Belmont Stakes presented by DraftKings (gr. I): American Pharoah

2

Jockeys with five U.S. classic wins in any two consecutive seasons, Victor Espinoza in 2014 and 2015 on California Chrome   and American Pharoah; and Ron Turcotte in 1972 and 1973 on Riva Ridge and Secretariat

2

Record crowds turned out to view American Pharoah's Triple Crown run, as 170,513 watched his winning Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and 131,680 turned out for his XpressBet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I) win. Crowd for Belmont Stakes was limited to 90,000

2:26.65

Final time for American Pharoah in the Belmont, the second-fastest 1 1/2-mile Belmont time (behind Secretariat) registered by a Triple Crown winner

3

Classic wins for owner Ahmed Zayat after American Pharoah's Triple Crown sweep, which followed five runner-up finishes in classic races from Paynter  , Nehro, Pioneerof the Nile   and Bodemeister  , the last of which finished second in the Derby and Preakness for owners Zayat and Mike and Tiffany Moreno

4-

The Ragozin speed figure assigned to American Pharoah's Belmont victory, which followed the same figure in the Derby and a 6 in the Preakness

4

Grade I winners defeated by American Pharoah during his Triple Crown sweep (the only other four 3-year-olds to win grade I races in 2015 in the U.S.): Carpe Diem   (defeated in Kentucky Derby), Materiality (defeated in Derby and Belmont), Dortmund (Derby and Preakness), and Frosted (Derby and Belmont)

5

Consecutive Triple Crown winners to secure their Belmont victory after leading at every point of call, American Pharoah, Affirmed, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and Citation

5

Consecutive Triple Crown winners who earned champion honors in their 2-year-old seasons (same five horses)

7

Consecutive victories for American Pharoah, who has not lost since the first start of his career

7

Classic wins for jockey Victor Espinoza, three with American Pharoah, two each with California Chrome and War Emblem

10th

Homebred to win the Triple Crown: American Pharoah

12

Triple Crown winners

12

Classic wins for horses trained by Bob Baffert after American Pharoah's Triple Crown sweep, with six horses giving Baffert those dozen classic victories: American Pharoah; dual classic winners Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Point Given, and War Emblem; and Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky  

13 1/2

Combined margin of victory in lengths for American Pharoah in his Triple Crown sweep, which is the largest combined margin since Secretariat in 1973 and ranks sixth among Triple Crown winners

24.32

Seconds for American Pharoah to complete the final quarter-mile of the Belmont Stakes, the fastest final quarter ever registered by a Triple Crown winner in the Belmont

31

Starters defeated in American Pharoah's Triple Crown run, 17 in Derby, seven each in Preakness and Belmont; total ties Assault for second-most defeated starters among Triple Crown winners behind War Admiral's 32

37

Years between Affirmed's 1978 Triple Crown victory and American Pharoah's 2015 sweep, the longest such stretch since Sir Barton was recognized as the first Triple Crown winner in 1919

90,237

Uncashed $2 win mutuel tickets on American Pharoah, representing more than 95% of the 94,128 such tickets sold at Belmont Park and Aqueduct

392,193

Total attendance reported at the three Triple Crown races, easily the highest such figure to watch a Triple Crown winner